First Year Programs

First Year Wilderness Treks, 2013: Registration Form

Welcome to the Wilderness Treks Registration Page! All participants, including those who previously submitted an Interest form, must complete the information below. Once registered and selected, the Office of Orientation and First Year Programs will contact participants with confirmation and further direction within 48 hours.

Trek Dates: August 15–19, 2013

Application Deadline: Open until all spaces are filled

Cost: The fee for each trip will be $435 per person. Spaces will be filled in the order applications are received.

Description: A maximum of 30 students (3 groups of 10) will participate. Guides from Chapman and UCLA will serve as mentors and teachers throughout the entire experience. On Thursday, August 15 students can check-in to the residence halls between 8:30-9:30 a.m. The entire group will leave the Chapman campus around 12:00 p.m. and take a bus to the UCLA Sunset Recreation Center. A boxed lunch will be provided on the bus. Upon arrival, students will participate in a 4 hour (challenge by choice) ropes course. The day will conclude with a few camp activities and trip preparation, as well as a dinner they will make together. Participants will camp at UCLA and depart to their individual locations the next morning. After three days of exploring California students will return to UCLA and depart back to Chapman at 9:00 p.m. Monday, Aug 19. Just in time for Orientation to begin the next day.

The Trips will be:

Backpack Yosemite

Pay homage to John Muir, the most important naturalist in California history, on this world-famous backpacking adventure. We'll discover the small treasures as well as the monumental wonders of Yosemite through the conscientious perspective of a backcountry traveller. We'll spend the first night in a front-country campsite with time to stare in awe at the waterfalls and towering granite faces of Yosemite Valley. Then we'll leave the summer crowds and hit the trail for three days filled with the joys of backcountry travel: wildflowers, streams, alpine lakes, and views of the park seldom witnessed by most visitors. This trip is a great opportunity to learn basic backpacking skills, backcountry navigation, Leave No Trace ethics, backcountry cooking, and important Californian history.

Kayak and Hike the High Sierras

Paddle among the curious and beautiful limestone tufas of Mono Lake, then hike through some of the most exquisite glacial valleys of the Eastern Sierras. This trip combines an exciting variety of activities and landscapes. We'll start the trip by driving up highway 395 which separates the Sierra Nevadas from Death Valley National Park and exhibits some of California's most extraordinary geology. Day two will begin with a kayaking trip on Mono Lake led by a local guide knowledgeable in the areas natural and human history. If time permits, we'll drive up to Tuolumne Meadows in the afternoon. We'll head over to Rock Creek on day three for a day-long hike to the top of Mono Pass. Prepare for unbelievable views of pristine, lake-filled alpine valleys. The drive home on day four will involve stops to soak in natural hot springs and to uncover many more of the area's quirky features.

Backpack Big Sur

Hike through the breathtaking and diverse coastal landscapes of Big Sur! This trip begins with one of the most beautiful drives in California, up the Big Sur coast, with opportunities to stop along the way and admire an elephant seal colony, redwood groves, and the famous McWay falls. We'll spend our first starlit night at a front-country campsite enjoying campfire activities and learning useful backpacking skills. The next three days will be spent hiking through the mountains of the Ventana Wilderness, high up on the Big Sur river, through sycamore, manzanita and conifer forests, to Sykes Hot Springs. There, we'll soak in mind-centering pools of earth-heated mineral water, the best way to balance the physical challenges of backpacking. This trip is a great opportunity to learn basic backpacking skills, backcountry navigation, Leave No Trace ethics, backcountry cooking, and much more.